The Pact
by Ninjara
Summary: One night, two meetings, and three people; but it effects more than that. "To those who live in darkness even a little light helps." Set between 'Promises' and 'Dragon Fire'. First attempt at a one-shot.


The Pact

AN: I know it's been a while since I posted anything, but I will be finishing all my stories. Hopefully, I'll be posting more often now that I have my new netbook. This story is meant to take place between _Promises_ and _Dragon Fire_.  
"/words\" means translated from different language.

Disclaimer: I own only the story idea; not the characters.

* * *

It had only been a few hours ago when the incident involving the White Bulls came to a complete and official close in the courtroom. Ian had been expecting to be questioned regarding her involvement; not by any true and acknowledged authority such as police or federal agents, but by the one with the power to deny their right to exist. He would rather not be giving any kind of report on her, as of now they were both in rather precarious positions.

"I trust she performed well, Nottingham?" Kenneth Irons's words were a statement not a question, but they prompted a reply anyway.

"Of course. Phoenix has always been very capable and her performance is never less than excellent. She herself does not tolerate less than the very best. If for any reason the result were not what she wished; I am most certain that she would have taken matters into her own hands, and eliminated the threats immediately." Ian stated; his report was concise and to the point as Mr. Irons preferred it.

"Well done, Nottingham. However, there is still the matter of her associations to deal with; I am sure you are well aware of that already." Irons said calmly.

"It's only natural that she associates with those people. It would be counterproductive for her not to, especially since she must work with them." Ian's response was swift. He would prefer not to draw too much attention to the matter.

"I suppose that is true. I'm very surprised that you neglected to mention it; you're usually so through in your reports." Irons commented, watching Nottingham closely.

"I apologize. I did not think it even worth mentioning as it is of no consequence." Ian replied swiftly, hoping that Irons had not noticed him tense at the subject. He had not thought Irons would have that information yet, and he hoped to keep that secret.

"Are you certain? My sources say something quite different. Perhaps there was some sort of mistake made. It is not my concern or business, it is after all her life. Still, there is the matter of disclosing sensitive information."

"She would never do that. Phoenix knows the penalty for such an act. A sin of that magnitude could only be punishable by death. The one who receives such information would be classified for a threat and have to be eliminated. As the one who would mete out those orders, she knows better than anyone else. Phoenix will not betray that to anyone." Ian answered as he thought to himself: _From what I've observed, they would in fact be the last people she would tell anything to. She would not want to be forced to kill them herself._

"I do hope you are correct, Nottingham; since that duty would fall to you if she should fail it. When you see her do tell her that I will be happy to offer my assistance should she have need of it in the future." Irons finished; waving Ian away with a dismissive gesture.

Kenneth Irons leaned back into his high-back leather chair and stared into the flames of his fireplace. He was not a stupid man, he had no illusions as to the true loyalties of the Black Dragons. He had no doubt that Nottingham was now on his way to see O'Hara; to inform her of the situation. Truely the Black Dragons were only loyal to each other, and none more than Nottingham and O''Hara.

All of the Black Dragons were intelligent; it had been one of the key points he had refused to compromise on, because he had wanted the best of candidates for the project. It would not have been worth all the money he'd put into it, if they were anything less. Truthfully he considered Nottingham, Mobius, and O'Hara the only successful subjects; the rest were inferior in many ways. Losing both O'Hara and Mobius had been costly to the project; He had not even known that he was about to lose a large part of his investments. He knew exactly who was to blame for losing him O'Hara, and Mobius had vanished soon after. He supposed he should consider himself lucky to have managed to contain the rest, and maintaining control of Nottingham. Nottingham was very intelligent and also very predictable. He had tried to withhold information and would have to be punished for that later. Irons's dealings with Mobiussuggested that he was similarto Ian. No doubt that he would reappear if either Nottingham or O'Hara called for him. The most intriguing one was O'Hara; a highly intelligent woman that he could neither control or predict.

The rest were like dogs; worthless strays of little real use, and just barely trainable. She was different from them, unique. There was an elegance to her that was almost untouchable; an ability to draw others to her, it was a rare and invaluable quality. She drew those worthless strays to her without a thought and it made her all the more useful. Both Nottingham and Woo had realized this already and found a way to remove her from the project. They made it next to impossible to regain his investment any time soon, until this had happened. Currently she was in his territory even if he could not get near her himself; he could send Nottingham to her.

There was also her special 'talents' to consider; she was one of the highest trained assassins in the world, Irons had made sure of that. Truthfully, he had put a significant amount of money into her training; the same as he had done Nottingham's training, and that made him very sure of both's skills. As such Irons had hoped to retain possession of all the Black Dragons; however like with Mobius, he lacked the necessary means to control O'Hara. He knew that if the means to control her existed, she was a guarded enough individual to keep it close to her. He had thought the key was lost to him with the death of Daniel Woo. Now as he looked over the information his sources had gathered; he was more than certain that the means not only existed, but that she would do anything to keep it safe.

Out of all the Black Dragons she was the most sociable and perhaps the best suited to live outside the group. The paranoia that plagued most of the others did not affect either her or Nottingham; unlike him she was not aggressive or hostile to outsiders, and it was evidenced by her associations. As interesting as that was, a Black Dragon would always be a Black Dragon. Those skills and that training were deeply ingrained in both body and mind; the alterations were permanent, Irons would hve never paid such an obscene amount otherwise. It would be a part of them until the day they died and there was no escaping that.

* * *

It was late night; not the time for anyone to be wandering around the city on foot, much less loitering in a cemetary. Ian Nottingham had chosen this place for the meeting because of its importance. Kenneth Irons would have said that the place had a value now and anything given there would be binding. Ian would never tell him where they met because of that; He did not want this place now considered sacred to be used for any kind of trap. It was clear that Irons wished to trap her; of the two that had elude his grasp, she was the only one he could not completely control. Now Irons sought some way to bind her; but Ian would never allow that to happen to his sister.

A dark shadow dropped gracefully from the high branches of a tree a few yards away. There was only silence when her feet touched the ground; it was an ability that he had only seen among their group, and she had taken it to another level. Her footsteps made no sound even among the small twigs and frosted grass; she was like a wraith, only visible to another such as herself. He admired the unconscious grace in her movements as he watched he approach. To those outside of their circle that grace was often misinterpreted as that of a trained dancer, but to him it was more like that of a predatory cat.

She is a elemental creature; a force of nature as wild as the wind and untameable as a wildfire. She was not meant to be controlled by anyone, and was best left free. The night wind seemed to play with strands of her red hair as she moved to greet him. The Black Dragon greeting was used only in times of peace when two Black Dragons' paths would cross; it was a simple clasping of each others' forearm and a simple greeting.

"/Welcome, sister. I hope your journey was well.\" Ian started.

"/Thank you, Brother. I hope you were not waiting long.\" she replied back. Her eyes, a unusual mix of blue and green, never left his hazel ones, but he had no doubt that she was completely aware of their surroundings. Ian was fascinated by her eyes; a side effect of the project caused them to shift color between blue and green depending on her feelings, the current shade suggested apprehension.

"I didn't wait long at all and I wasn't expecting you to be on time either. I find myself oddly disappointed, especially after that declaration." Ian stated.

"That would mean that my skills are lacking, Ian. If I couldn't slip away on my own; it would be an embarrassment, and I have my reputation to keep. Why did you call me out here anyway, Dragon?" she asked calmly.

"I gave my report regarding the White Bulls incident; there was some concern over your associations." he answered quickly.

"My associations are none of his concern, Dragon, nor are they any of yours." She stated cooly, stepping away from him. Her tone was shifting towards annoyance; signalling that the subject was not something she wished to discuss any further.

"It becomes my concern because of his interest in the subject. I need to know if they know about us." Ian insisted, coming closer to her. He was treading dangerous ground here; her blue green eyes were shading towards a glittering glacial blue, and he knew that was a sure sign of her anger.

"They don't. You already knew that, Dragon. I know the rules regarding the disclosure of that information, and I know very well the consequences of such. Did you forget whose job it is to dispatch any threats that come? Or to whom it falls to stop even the slightest information leaks? Well, Dragon?'' she asked, her voice had taken on an angry, icy edge to it.

"Of course not. Your efforts protect all of us, Phoenix. It's a worthy purpose and we are grateful for it..." he began.

"I already told you not to lie to me, Ian, it's definately not your strong point. Neither you or the others have any reason to be grateful for that; the only one who is grateful is him." she snapped, spitefully.

"Your animosity in regards to Mr. Irons is understandable. However, I am to tell you; he wished to offer his assistance should you have need of it in the future." He said, quietly.

"The day I go to him for help of any kind will be the day I sign away my life and my freedom. He wants to control everything ad everyone; I'd never give that to him. I will not be caged again, Ian. I cannot live like that." she said, softly. The anger had left her voice and the icy blue had shaded to a much darker ocean blue.

"I know that and I know the way you are. I don't want to see you pained by this or anything that comes from it. You would rather die youself, then let any harm come to your partners. You shoulder a difficult burden and a moment's weakness could mean death." he stated softly.

"I know that, Ian." she said simply, brushing her fingers over the cold stone of the marker they stood by.

"It's hard to keep these secrets and to be completely alone. We are mostly solitary, but we are not meant to be completely cut off from one another. I know how hard it is for you, because we are connected to each other." he replied, his hand touching the stone marker as she had just done.

"Are you afraid that I might falter? If it should come to deciding between our secrets and their lives; should I uphold our rules or go against them? Do you wish to know what I would choose? Which do you think I should choose?" She asked.

"That choice would lie only with you, Shana, I cannot begin to guess your actions. I would hope that they ar the right ones for you." he answered.

"I'd hope so too. But neither of us will know if itwas the right choice until long after it was made" she said, before continuing in Gaelic."/I do know the things you've done to allow me to keep my freedom; and I thank you for it, my brother.\"

"/There is no need for thanks. As long as you are happy, it does not matter what I have to do to acheive that, dear sister. If something should happen, you know i will be here.\" he responded.

"I know you will, Ian, you always are. But I will not take his offer no matter what happens. And please inform Irons that he would do well to keep my allies out of this. Or he just might find out exactly how well his money was spent." She answered softly as she turned and walked away.

Ian watched her disappear into the night; becoming yet another shadow in the darkness. It was very difficult to live in the shadows; to walk in darkness, and they all knew that now. He feared for all of them and none more than her. They had delved into the darkness and shadows of humanity; seeing and doing things in those shadows, until some were nearly driven mad by it. He knew that the Darkness was an all consuming thing, and it would only be a matter of time before it eventually devoured her too.

"I'll pray that she makes the right choices for herself and those choices will release her from the Shadow's grasp. I'm not the only one hoping for that, am I?" he asked,turning to the large peice of granite he stood next to.

"But we have a hope now, don't we? After all, when one resides in darkness even a little light will help; and I'm sure you were more aware of it than I am. I'm really a pale subsitute for you, Daniel, but I am all our dear sister has right now. So I will endeavor to do my best." Ian swore before he turned and disappeared into the night as well.

~End~

* * *

That's it. My first attempt at a one shot. Thank you for reading and please review and let me know what you thought of it. Just a side note: Most of _Dragon Fire_ has been written out on paper, so hopefully I can start posting soon.


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